ABSW Awards 2023: The Finalists

The winner of this award is automatically entered as the British entrant to the European Science Journalist of the Year Award

Alison George, Features editor, New Scientist

Last days of the bird genius lab, New Scientist magazine

Cracking the code, New Scientist magazine

Why everything you thought you knew about posture is wrong, New Scientist

Judges Quote: Great writing across an interesting and diverse range of topics, but most importantly had a significant impact in reversing the closure of the Comparative Cognition Lab.

Martha Henriques, Senior Journalist BBC Future, & Editor of Future Planet

The medical power of hypnosis, BBC Future

Why does time go forwards, not backwards? BBC Future

The mysterious inner life of the octopus, BBC Future

Judges Quote: She creates fascinating stories with great reach from the esoteric far corners of science.

Ian Sample, Science editor, the Guardian

UK government’s Covid advisers enduring ‘tidal waves of abuse’, The Guardian

‘This looks like the real deal’: are we inching closer to a treatment for Alzheimer’s? The Guardian

Life will find a way: could scientists make Jurassic Park a reality? The Guardian

Judges Quote: A real powerhouse, telling important stories to a very wide audience, including uncovering the abuse scientists have faced over their COVID-19 roles.

With thanks to The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry who support this award.

Azadeh Emadi, University of Glasgow, The magic of touch: how deafblind people taught us to ‘see’ the world differently during COVID, Insights - The Conversation

Judges Quote: An accomplished piece on a deeply multi-disciplinary topic. Deploying multiple techniques, deftly woven together, Emadi draws the reader in and humanises her own research on how the deafblind community experienced the pandemic.

Antonio Padilla, University of Nottingham, 5 mind-bending numbers that could reveal the secrets of the universe, New Scientist

Judges Quote: Breaks down his incredibly complex world of theoretical physics and cosmology into five digestible chunks, using analogy, metaphor and a touch of humour. 

Christian (Kit) Yates, University of Bath, Why mathematicians sometimes get Covid projections wrong, Guardian

Judges Quote: A concise and understandable insider’s guide to mathematical modelling for COVID — the good, the bad and the ugly. 

With thanks to the Dr Katharine Giles Fund that supports this award.

Katy Evans, Managing Editor, IFLScience.com

When Does A Theory Become A Fact? CURIOUS ISSUE 3 (October 2022)

What Will "Living With COVID" Look Like, And Are We There Yet? www.iflscience.com

Is It Possible To Change Your Personality? www.iflscience.com

Why Archaeologists Are Not Looking For Atlantis, CURIOUS ISSUE 2 (September 2022)

How Citizen Science Is Changing The World, www.iflscience.com

Judges Quote: An outstanding year in which Katy Evans showed both strategic vision and the mettle to bring the vision into reality. Along the way she showed off many of the skills an editor needs to be successful, effectively combining editorial, budgetary, staffing and format development.

Sarah Richardson, Editor-in-chief, Research Professional News

Fraud: the strange world of R&D tax cold calls, Research Professional News

UK winners of EU grants given two-month ultimatum, Research Professional News

US Playbook: Speaking out, Research Professional News

Manchester vice-president told to apologise over racism row, Research Professional News

Ukraine: Fighting on, Research Professional News

Judges Quote: Sarah's application stood out for the steady readership growth under her tenure and her ability to drive forward expansion without losing focus on core activities. We were particularly impressed with her ability to launch a new US product while continuing to oversee some hard hitting, impactful stories, and also taking the time to develop junior journalists. 

Claire Asher, & Glenn Scherer, Unseen crisis: Threatened gut microbiome also offers hope for world, Mongabay

Judges Quote: This ambitious article related ecological factors to the human microbiome. Instead of being a list, it maintained an argument, narrative and engrossing points. It left you wanting new members in your microbial community.

Charlotte Jee, Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. Are we ready? MIT Technology Review

Judges Quote: This accessible and thought-provoking feature was written before the current excitement over programs such as ChatGPT. It discussed how AI could influence our personal lives -- a topic of huge public interest.

Oscar Schwartz, Fighting fire with fire: can Aboriginal knowledge save the world from burning? 1843 magazine, the Economist

Judges Quote: This well-written feature on a new approach to stopping wildfires weaved human interest into a fresh take on a worthy topic.

Shaoni Bhattacharya, Time to stop talking about 'my generation'? The Psychologist

Judges Quote: The Psychologist, asks a naïve question: is the notion of “a generation” of people of any value to science? The well-sourced answer is that labels such as baby boomer and gen Z are at best slippery concepts.

Ewen Callaway, What's next for AlphaFold and the AI protein-folding revolution, Nature

Judges Quote: We all read in the newspapers that AlphaFold had transformed the search for protein structures. But how? This answers that question with some first-class reporting.

Dawn Connelly, ‘My whole world changed’: the repulsive smells that linger for months post COVID’, The Pharmaceutical Journal

Judges Quote: A beautifully written tale. We have bizarre signs and symptoms, human tragedy, what we know and don’t know about the neuroscience, and news for sufferers and pharmacists.

Jamie Durrani, 50 years of artemisinin, Chemistry World

Judges Quote: A historical narrative you may think you know, but we found the retelling of events surrounding the drug’s emergence a big surprise. A well-told tale.

Diana Kwon, The rise of citational justice, Nature

Judges Quote: A strong human angle and a data-driven base. A call to action to make science more inclusive and will doubtless annoy some scientists (mainly white males) for reasons they may not be able to articulate, which is another of its qualities.

Simar Bajaj, Freelance

Pig to human heart transplants are the future. Are we ready for it? The Guardian

This Follicle-Hacking Drug Could One Day Treat Baldness, WIRED UK

Voting is significant determinant of health, US medical association declares, The Guardian

Judges Quote: Exceptional reporting of important and complex scientific issues, such as xenotransplantation, which has already resulted in international recognition.

Emma Elobeid, Ellen MacArthur Foundation (also Freelance)

A Porpoise Named Peppa, Self-published using Shorthand

How the circular economy can help us stay within planetary boundaries, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

More than just a big idea: how technology can enable the circular economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Judges Quote: A very distinctive style of writing and of presenting complex information that makes her reporting particularly accessible to a lay audience.

Ayesha Tandon, Carbon Brief

Analysis: How the UK’s ‘insane’ 40C heat was forecast ‘weeks in advance’, Carbon Brief

Eradicating ‘extreme poverty’ would raise global emissions by less than 1%, Carbon Brief

Polar bears and climate change: What does the science say? Carbon Brief

Judges Quote: Expert reporting on complex developments in climate policy, and her database of climate experts in the global south is a very important new resource for science journalists.

With thanks to the Quadram Institute who support this award.

Rhys Blakely, Is harvesting pig organs a giant leap ahead or foolhardy? The Times

Judges Quote: A fascinating foray into a timely topic, raising genuine ethical quandaries.

Jessica Hamzelou, A battle is raging over long covid in children, MIT Technology Review

Judges Quote: A thorough, even-handed exploration of what long Covid looks like in children.

Matt Reynolds, You're (Maybe) Gonna Need a Patent for That Woolly Mammoth, WIRED UK

Judges Quote: A well-written story exploring the worrying potential of commercialisation in genetics.

Jessica Hamzelou, This company is about to grow new organs in a person for the first time, MIT Technology Review

Judges Quote: Well-explained, exceptionally interesting and - crucially - avoiding hype on a sensational topic.

Jo Marchant, First known map of night sky found hidden in Medieval parchment, Nature

Judges Quote: A memorable exclusive: Via great story telling and factful reporting it showed why this was important news.

Ian Sample, UK government’s Covid advisers enduring ‘tidal waves of abuse’, The Guardian

Judges Quote: Reporting on an important issue that went the extra mile to create a worthwhile new story.

Judges Quote: Anjana Ahuja marshals the evidence that biological age assessments are scientifically flawed and that their use in deportation cases only adds more uncertainty to decisions that are, at best, ambiguous.

Alok Jha, Rise of the robots, The Economist

Judges Quote: Beautifully crafted, this editorial challenges the usual, and lazy, narrative that an increasing reliance on robots will damage society.

Christian (Kit) Yates, How true is it that girls just ‘don’t like’ hard maths? The Independent

Judges Quote: In holding policymakers to account using clear, evidence-based reasoning, this piece does just what a good opinion piece should.

Rory Galloway, Alok Jha, & Nicolas Raufast, Artificial intelligence enters its industrial age, Babbage Podcast on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc

Judges Quote: Broadcast in June 2022, this Podcast foretold the dangers which recently made headline news. Opening with a delightful argument about the script between the presenter and an AI presenter, the piece explains clearly the science, and the dangers, surrounding AI, with strong interviews from experts and from artists experimenting with AI. Structuring the piece as an unfolding story made it more than simply a series of explanations and discussions, and more absorbing.

Nick Petrić Howe, & Tulika Bose, Racism in Health: the harms of biased medicine, Nature Website and podcast providers

Judges Quote: Interesting, important and impactful, great scientific content and also clearly explained, an important story really well-told.

Geoff Marsh, & Noah Baker, Recreating the lost sounds of spring, Nature.com

Judges Quote: The perfect story for creative use of sound effects and they were well-chosen and crafted without being excessive. Technical quality, writing and presentation were superb. A delight to listen to.

Ian Sample, Madeleine Finlay, Tony Onuchukwu, & Lorna Stewart, James Webb space telescope: thousands of galaxies in a grain of sand, The Guardian

Judges Quote: The top astronomy story of the year, told clearly and engagingly. Nice use of actuality at the start and a single (good) interviewee.

Anjana Ahuja, Research funding lottery could tackle 'status bias', Financial Times

Judges Quote: A solid story, clear and well written.

Eva Amsen, Broken Horizon: UK medical research struggling with funding and collaborations gap after Brexit, British Medical Journal

Judges Quote: Good reporting about an important issue, with the potential for impact. A good mix of numbers/data and personal stories all the way through.

Dyani Lewis, Why the WHO took two years to say COVID is airborne, Nature

Judges Quote: Well informed and knowledgeable. Accessible to a wider audience, it provided a balanced perspective, but did not shy away from pointed criticism.

Andrew Silver, Polar research: Frozen out, Research Europe

Judges Quote: A really good piece written on an important topic. The reporting is challenging, executed well, and clearly written.

Leana Hosea, Rachel Salvidge, Emma Campbell, Alasdair Cross, & Dimitri Houtart, Costing the Earth: Britain’s Dark Waters, BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds

Judges Quote: The story-telling structure kept the listener’s attention throughout, through its variety of locations, powerful examples, eloquent first-hand testimony and clear, persuasive sync from experts.

Victoria Gill, & Julian Siddle, BBC Inside Science: Biodiversity, BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds

Judges Quote: We were impressed with the speed with which this programme was put together. We were equally impressed by the range of eloquent international voices discussing the issues of biodiversity – evidencing that the loss of diversity is down to human activity, that the loss will impact severely on the human race, but that catastrophe can still be avoided.

Caroline Steel, & Marnie Chesterton, Human v Machine, BBC Sounds

Judges Quote: This was a fun listen using a number of audio techniques to grab the audience. The informal style adopted drew the listener in. An attractive way to encourage the audience to think about science.

With thanks to the Royal Society who support this award.

Amanda Ruggeri, Male postnatal depression: Why men struggle in silence, BBC Worklife

Judges Quote: The fascinating account of a (male) paediatrician with postnatal depression, exploring how even those who should be most familiar with this little-known condition can remain undiagnosed.

Dan Saladino, & Dimitri Houtart, Nutrition’s Dark Matter: The New Science of Eating, BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds

Judges Quote: An engaging deep dive into the compounds in our food that science is increasingly revealing as essential to long-term health, bringing biochemistry and food journalism together for a new audience.

Judges Quote: Really strong field of entries this year with a brilliant use of data and willingness to take on large interest groups.

Zachary Boren, Revealed: How the livestock industry funds the ‘greenhouse gas guru’, Unearthed & New York Times

Judges Quote: A comprehensive investigation on a topic of crucial importance to science - the independence of research institutions. Great use of Freedom of Information and other investigative techniques.

Emma Howard, & Crispin Dowler, Satellites reveal widespread burning on England’s protected peatlands, despite government ban, Unearthed. Additional credits: Data processing by Anne Harris, Edikan Umoh and Olufadeke Banjo. Video production by Ali Deacon.

Judges Quote: Very strong investigation that involved extensive research and analysis written in a digestible way. It was great to see the wide-ranging real world impact of the team's work, including the launching of a government investigation into the issue.

Laura Margottini, Matthew Chapman, Chrissie Giles, & Paul Eccles, Philip Morris misleading the public about nicotine in heated tobacco, TBIJ.com, Mail, Guardian & Il Fatto Quotidiano

Judges Quote: An innovative approach to overcome a lack of scientific research on the issue. It is extremely difficult to take on the tobacco industry, one of the world's largest lobbyists. Great work!

Melissa Hogenboom, & Pierangelo Pirak, Split at Birth: Twins Divided, BBC TV News, iPlayer & BBC Reel

Judges Quote: A powerful documentary about twin separation studies, featuring excellent storytelling and an engaging visual style. The filmmakers got very good access to compelling interviewees, highlighting the special connection that can exist between twins and the impact that these troubling experiments had on the people involved.  

David Stock, Piecing together the story of ancient glass after the Beirut explosion, New Scientist

Judges Quote: This film about a scientific silver lining was interesting and poignant, with a hook that grabbed our attention and beautiful imagery throughout.

Akshat Rathi, Michael Byhoff, & Alan Jeffries, The Huge, Weird Batteries of the Future, YouTube & Bloomberg.com

Judges Quote: A brilliant job of making the dull and unimportant sounding topic of batteries utterly fascinating. Great locations, slick visuals and snappy pacing made for an enjoyable watch